Elemental Guardians
by Sword Of Storms
Summary: Finally, Lucemon has been defeated! But when this mysterious text message tells them that the Digital World is in danger again, they begin to act..... *Takumi* Kind of on hiatus right now.
1. Trouble Arises

Chapter One: Trouble Arises

The darkness surrounded the area. The only thing that the average onlooker could see would be the faint glow of the full, midnight moon. However, if one were to pay a little closer attention, they would be able to see the faint outline of two shadowy figures, gliding along the dirt road. On the left side, wild, untamed hedges, which looked as if they hadn't been trimmed for over a few years, and the right was no different. All that could be heard was the faint crackling of the autumn leaves that littered the old, dirt road.

The figures silently moved across the dirt path, at a brisk pace. Suddenly, right underneath the beams of moonlight, they stopped moving.

"Do you know what happened specifically? Because you haven't told me anything of significance, Magnus," the first figure said, suspicion ringing out through the voice.

"You know as well as I do, Tempest, that I can't say anything until Draconis shows up," replied the other, this time the voice filled with annoyance and impatience, "At any rate, he can't be much too longer."

"Yeah, you're probably right..." the voice trailed off, apparently the speaker had gone deep into thought for a moment, then continued, "I still can't believe that Alex..."

"He's a traitor, Tempest, leave him. He's get his when this is all over."

"Yeah, but even so..." Tempest stopped for a moment, "Anyway, Draconis is late, we're on the run, and we have no idea where the other Guardians are. And to top it all off, we could be attacked by those damn Daejims at any moment!" Just at that moment, however, the leaves of the wild hedges on either side of the duo began to rustle.

"Are you doing that, Tempest?" asked Magnus, slightly whispering.

"Nope, that's not me. Think it's..." But before he could finish his sentence, two giant figures, both equally identical, jumped out from the hedges and landed in front of the duo.

"Well, speak of the devil... Daejims," started Magnus, "This just isn't our day, is it?" And with that, he leapt into the air, unsheathing his sword, preparing to strike.

"You know what to do, cover me while I'm casting," commanded Tempest, some form of magic sigil appearing underneath his feet, slightly green in colouring, "This is about to get messy!"

The two Daejims shrieked their ferocious battle cry, then pulled out their giant stone axes. Magnus landed, impaling the blade of his sword in the chest of the first Daejim. He pulled the sword out of the monster, and his sword glowed slightly. The now-dead Daejim shook for a second, then disappeared, the wispy trail of energy left behind was immediately sucked into the sword.

"So much for not using that spell, huh?" asked Tempest, eyeing the sword carefully before resuming his incantation. Indeed, the sword had begun to glow a bright red, shining like a beacon in the night. Magnus rolled his eyes before turning to the remaining Daejim, before noticing that said Daejim had disappeared.

"Crap! Where'd he go!?!" exclaimed Magnus, wildly looking around. Tempest started to look around as well. The dirt road was clear of all evidence that there was anything there. Tempest stopped the incantation, "He can't have gone too far... LOOK OUT!!!"

Magnus looked up in alarm, and sure enough, there it was rapidly falling to the ground below. Magnus raised his sword just in time; the stone axe barely missing his neck. The Daejim leapt from its position to the ground, and started ferociously swinging its axe, Magnus barely meeting its swings in time. After a few minutes of this, the axe finally knocked the sword out of Magnus' hands, when...

"AEROGA!!!" Out of nowhere, mighty winds pierced the midnight air, and started to slash the Daejim apart, its howls of agony ringing clearly through the air. Magnus turned around to see his ally, the mystic sigil underneath flashing fiercely underneath him. The wind spell died down, and a similar trail of energy remained.

"Might as well not let this go to waste..." started Magnus, but as he turned around, a glare of disapproval met his eyes, and the realization that maybe, just maybe, taking that energy wasn't a good idea.

It didn't matter anyway, because as Magnus turned around, the energy was travelling upwards into the lance of a mysterious figure, covered from head to toe in what appeared to be armor made from the scales of a dragon.

"Nice timing, Draconis," said Tempest, rolling his eyes in sarcasm, "Yeah, but next time, maybe you should show up before the bad guys attack us. Sound like a good idea, hmmm?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," replied Draconis, "So Magnus, what did the master say before... what happened?" he asked, a tone of sadness overcoming the last of his question.

"Apparently, he wants us to get those who saved this world before to return and help us restore order. As if we need their help, we're the Guardians!"

"Yeah, but I highly doubt that the master reached the social status that he did if he didn't know what he was doing," answered Draconis, kicking a small stone on the road before continuing his trail of thought, "Besides, these are the kids that defeated Lucemon, they can't possibly be more of a hindrance than they would be help..."

"Yeah, but that's the point: they're just kids!" replied Magnus, anger starting to become evident in his voice, "At any rate, Orphanimon removed all contact with them, and she probably won't be willing to put it back in place for us. According to her, you and Tempest are just as bad as Lucemon, just 'cause we didn't help when she called, and according to her, I'm supposed to be dead!" The air began to fill with slight tension. Before anything could happen, however...

"Draconis has a point, Magnus, they could be of some help, but as you said, they are just kids."

"Tempest, you've got to be kidding, you won't take the advice that the master has given?" started Draconis, now anger starting to overcome his voice as well.

"That's not what I meant," he replied, impatience clearly evident, "What I meant was than they could help, but we'd have to keep a close eye of them is all. Not to mention that we have to find their spirits again..." his voice trailed off. After a moment, he continued, "It matters not, the master has spoken. I guess now the only question is how to get them here."

The trio became quiet, thinking of that very problem. The winds around them started to pick up speed, and a chill was upon them.

"Damn, we don't have time for this..." muttered Magnus, "How did they manage to find us?"

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe the fact that you two idiots used the forbidden spell, and now they know where we are?" Tempest offered, sarcasm evident and Magnus imagined a smirk was on his friend's face.

"Now's not the time for fighting, we have to go. Now," Draconis said, "I'll take you up to the Dragon Fortress for the time being. Grab a hold of me." As he said that, the hedges began to rustle again, but before anything could jump out and ambush them, the trio had disappeared in a flash of light, leaving nothing but crushed leaves where they were standing just seconds before...

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I promise, there will be some Takumi later, so don't attack me yet! Reviews and constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated, while flames will...not. Please R+R!


	2. The Plot Unfolds

Chapter 2: The Plot Unfolds

Disclaimer: Please note that I don't own Digimon, or anything associated with Digimon. I only own my characters.

* * *

"I can not believe you did that!" laughed a brown-haired, goggle-headed boy. 

"Well, she was absolutely clinging to me," explained his companion, a blue-haired boy with a bandana in said hair, "I just had to break it off with her."

"Yeah, but right in the middle of the mall?!? There must have been about a hundred people there!"

Yes, Takuya Kanbara and Kouji Minamoto were walking through the downtown streets, laughing at the way Kouji had just broken up with his clinging, now ex-girlfriend. The afternoon sun shone lazily, casting shadows of everything within its reach.

It was always interesting to walk downtown, because you'd always see almost every type of person there: tall, short, fat, skinny, black, white; at that was just the tip of the iceburg. People watching downtown was always fun, as the two former Digidestined were now doing, laughing at the many different shaped and sized people walking down the streets. What they didn't realize, though, was that they were being watched.

On one of the benches that the two passed, there sat two teenage boys, both equally identical, wearing sunglasses to hide their eyes. One was wearing a dark blue muscle shirt, with a pair of baggy jeans; the other wearing a dark red T-shirt and jeans as well. Anyone walking by would just automatically assume that they were just sitting there and talking about whatever it was that teenagers these days talked about. That was not the case, not even close.

"You sure that's them?" asked the first teen, "They're awfully young to have saved the D-World."

"That's them, Scott, I'm sure of it. Just look at the picture," replied the second, holding up a picture with what appeared to be the Digidestined in it, all of them back in the Digital World, happy smiles frozen in time.

"I'm curious, how exactly did you get this picture, Andrew? I thought Orphanimon had it under wraps."

"She did. I'm not saying that it was easy; all of that security that she has in that place makes it a bit..." Andrew stopped suddenly; a mother with her child started to glare at him as they walked by. After they left, he continued, "Anyways, it doesn't matter. The point is that we have it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. And another thing," started Scott, ignoring the joking groan coming from his partner, "I can't believe that Nick got so lucky as to follow the girl around. I think he purposely did that to tick us off."

"Probably, after what happened last night. He's not the only one though; do you realize that after this, we have to watch the other three as well?"

"Maybe not, here comes his twin now," said Scott. Sure enough, Kouji's twin brother, Koichi Kimura, had joined the duo, all three of them all smiles.

"Damn, can't hear what they're saying. Want to get in closer?" asked Scott.

"Nah, we'll blow our cover. Besides, we've got the trace on the two, that's all that matters. We'll get the other one when we start over tommorow," answered Andrew. Scott was about to argue, but his cell phone began to ring.

"Hello?... Yeah, we got the two...What?...WHAT!?!?! (with this, the trio turned to look for a second, shrugged it off, and returned to their conversation.)...I can't believe him, what an idiot!... Yeah, we've got three of them here right now, and you've got the girl...Oh, so the other two are with her?...Alright, but how are we... uh huh... uh huh... uh huh... Huh, that's a lot you're askin' of us, Nick...Oh, all right, I'll tell him. Talk to ya later." He flipped his cell phone shut, and returned it to his pocket.

"What'd he say?" asked Andrew, curiosity evident in his voice.

"Good news, bad news. The good is, reports from home base say that they've found Josh,"

"That's awesome! What's the bad news?"

"He let Marcus and his cronies out." He waited for the outburst that was expected to come from his partner; it never came. Andrew just stared for a second.

"I...can not...BELIEVE...that he'd...do that!" shouted Andrew.

"Oi, maybe you should keep it down, people are staring." Indeed, people had begun to stare, although the trio did ignore them.

Andrew muttered out an apology before continuing, "Doesn't he know that they're basically Enemy #1, well, Enemy #2 now that HE'S gotten out. Why would he betray us like that?"

"That's just it: he didn't. Apparently, security cameras showed that his eyes were glowing this really dark red, almost crimson, colour."

"Oh boy, the master warned us not to use that spell, but did he listen, no. 'Course not, he never listens," muttered Andrew darkly, now cursing silently under his breath, "So what else did Nick say?" At this, Scott turned his head away, contemplating whether or not to tell him what their leader had said.

"Well..., the plan's changed. He wants us to bring them to the rendezvous point, and return back to help out the others. Marcus is planning a siege on the Flame Terminal," replied Scott, who turned around to make sure that the trio was still standing where they were, talking; they were, before continuing, "He wants us to text them a message saying that the D-World is in danger, and that they should meet at the rendezvous point A.S.A.P."

"That's just perfect," muttered Andrew, and spat on the ground to show his anger. A few glares went his way, unnoticed. This was really nothing like he had been expecting, he had been expecting a few more days to work this out, but no. Matt, Sandy, Chris, and Mellisa were still missing, and it wasn't helping his stress levels at all.

"So, how are we going to do this? I mean, what exactly are we supposed to do?" asked Andrew, "Just pose as Orphanimon and say that the D-World is in danger?"

"That's exactly what we're going to do. Here, take my phone and text their leader. I think it's that blue-haired one..."

"No, it's the goggle-head. Honestly, don't you ever listen?" replied Andrew, and with an exasperated sigh, took his partner's phone and sent the message.

Meanwhile

"So, Takuya, I know that you think what happened at the mall was funny, with Kouji's girlfriend..." started Koichi, a sly look in his eyes which went, thankfully, unnoticed by their leader.

"Yeah, I thought it was hilarious!" laughed Takuya, a huge grin on his face. Kouji just stared, a confused look on his face, trying to figure out where exactly his brother was taking this conversation.

"Alright, but when was the last time you had a girlfriend?" asked Koichi, the sly look in his eyes now spreading to his face. Beside him, his brother started to catch on, his face beginning to break out into a grin. Meanwhile, the grin that was on Takuya's face instantly disappeared, his face turning red instead.

"Um... well... you see, the thing is..." stammered Takuya, trying to think of an excuse. Meanwhile, the twins both had identical, cunning grins on their faces.

"I'll bet that the reason you haven't had one, is because you've got it good for someone else. Maybe the girl of our gang, perhaps?" continued Koichi, whom was threatening to break out laughing alongside his brother.

Just as Takuya was about to stammer out his response, his cell began to vibrate. 'Saved by the phone,' he thought. He flipped open his cell, and read the message.

"As interesting as this conversation is," started Takuya, whose blush was beginning to disappear, "We've got trouble. Orphanimon wants us back at the Trailmon terminal. Something came up in the Digital World. Let's go!" And with that, Takuya ran off in the direction of the train station, the twins laughing for a second before following. Unknown to them, the duo sitting at the bench high-fived, before there was a flash of light. Most people must have believed that was a flash from a camera, but the duo had disappeared from the bench...

* * *

This took me a while to write, tell me if it's good or not. BTW, the two guys, remember them? Yeah, they're an important part of the story. More Takumi later on, and the second half of Takumi will actually be in the next chapter! Remember, reviews and constructive criticism are accepted, while flames... are not. Please, R+R! 


	3. Change Of Plans

Disclaimer: Please note that I, ShiningStorm, do not own Digimon, or anything associated with it. I only own my characters.

* * *

Chapter 3: Change Of Plans

"How much longer will it take for the others to get here? I'm getting tired of waiting….." complained Junpei, absent-mindedly kicking a stray rock on the boarding platform of the terminal. This place, which was below the city's normal train station, was actually a place for Digimon called Trailmon to take who Orphanimon thought would be the ones who possessed the power to take control of the spirits and save the Digital World. Junpei, along with the other two former Digidestined there currently, Izumi – the holder of the Wind spirits – and Tomoki – the holder of the spirits of Ice. Junpei himself was the holder of the Thunder spirits.

"It can't be too much longer. After all, we did just get the message ourselves," replied Tomoki, a sigh of impatience following his words, "Besides, if Takuya's with them, they'll probably show up right as the Trailmon gets here."

He was right, in noticing that there wasn't a single Trailmon in the station right now. Junpei sighed impatiently, and looked over at Izumi, who was silent during the trip over. Izumi had been pacing around in that same spot for five minutes now, waiting for the remainder of the group to show up.

All of a sudden, Izumi stopped pacing for a moment, and turned to Junpei.

"Even when we do get back to the Digital World, how are we supposed to fight once we get there? I mean, Orphanimon still hasn't given us our D-Tectors back yet," asked Izumi. Junpei thought for a moment.

"Maybe she'll give them back once we get there, or maybe….."

"Don't say that we'll have to fight without them and our spirits," said Tomoki, worry etched on his face and in his voice, "That would be horrible."

Izumi sighed, then started pacing again. How exactly could Takuya and the others be late? The message was pretty urgent. 'The Digital World is in danger once more, this time, from an even bigger threat than Lucemon. Return to the Digital World immediately.'

Actually, now that she thought about it, it didn't make sense. Why hadn't Orphanimon just talked to them through their phones, like she had with the D-Tectors? 'Probably because they aren't even D-Tectors,' said the voice in the back of her head. 'That was true…..' she thought, as she reached into her pocket. Sure enough, her phone was still there, still a phone. She sighed, once again attracting the stares of her two companions for a moment.

**Meanwhile**

"Did you send the message to the other three, like I asked?" asked Magnus quickly.

"Yeah, yeah, we did it," replied Draconis airily, "I'm still not sure why it was so important that they come. You didn't even want their help in the first place." Draconis looked over at his partner in crime, who had a smirk of victory on his face.

"First off, wipe that smirk off of your face before I wipe it off for you, Tempest," started Magnus, watching as the smirk on Tempest's face gradually began to decrease. Once it was down to a satisfactory level, he continued, "Second, things change, as I'm sure you are well aware of, Draconis. The time for petty prejudices is past us. We'll need their help now more than ever before, since somebody let out Marcus and his gang," and with this, he turned to glare at their new companion, who sat in the chair.

Blitz just stared at his three allies before him, all three of them glaring at him. "Look, I said I was sorry. It's just that the spell took over my body, I couldn't do anything to stop it!"

"You mean, the spell that the master forbid us from using? That spell?" asked Tempest, that same smirk threatening to overcome his face. This immediately shut Blitz up, as he resumed looking down at the ground underneath him. "And you two," he started, now staring at Magnus and Draconis, "using it knowing full well that those Daejims would follow the trail….. I'm surprised that they haven't found out where we are yet!"

"Well, they probably already know; they just haven't been able to reach us. In case it escaped your notice, we're in a giant fortress guarded by dragons in the middle of the sky, surrounded by storm clouds. This isn't exactly the number one vacation spot on the market," replied Draconis, the airy, carefree tone still in his voice.

Tempest stared at the ground, trying to come up with a response, when his thoughts were interrupted. "Alright, that's enough," said Magnus, "Now, how much longer will it take for them to get here?"

"Well, assuming the fact that the Trailmon we sent will actually go there instead of following Orphanimon's orders and staying in the Terminal, which is absolutely stupid, if you ask me….."

"Good thing we're not asking you then," interrupted Tempest, "She doesn't know about Marcus plan to take over the terminal with his siege. So how much longer?"

Draconis stared, a retort to his ally's comment appearing to be on the tip of his tongue before replying. "About a half hour by human world time, give or take ten minutes."

"Alright, that should be enough time to get there," stated Magnus, before staring off into space, lost in thought. The other three stared at him, (Blitz staring up from the ground when he thought it was safe) waiting for their next move to be assigned by their leader.

There was a knock on the room door. Draconis allowed the dragon knight entry into the room.

"Excuse me, sir, but there has been reports from our spy sources that Marcus has sent Dalton and Fredrik to command the army that will siege the terminal."

"Then what's Marcus doing?" asked Draconis.

"He's heading off back to find a way to return to his Dimensional Fortress, while Juniper and Marian lead the armies that will try to kill any people and Digimon who try and escape."

"Did you manage to see how much rations they have?"

"A lot, sir. About enough to last a couple of months."

"Do those inside the terminal look as if they'll be able to hold out for a while?"

"Yes, sir, although only for about a fortnight, it looks like."

"Alright, you're excused."

"By your leave, sir." And with that, the knight was off, closing the door behind him. Draconis stared over at the group in the room right now.

"From the looks of things, that is one of our top priorities, along with finding the others. Blitz, do you know where Glaciella or Naturaia is?" asked Magnus urgently, turning over to his companion.

"I have absolutely no idea. The big guy's probably off with Eartheart to try and stop the Daejim army right now. As for my sister….." he trailed off, a look of pain and disgust on his face, "I haven't her in years, the little bit….." his sentence now turning into a steady stream of cursing. Magnus turned over to Tempest, who looked worried.

"What about Aquatis? Do you know anything about what happened to her?" asked Tempest, the worry obvious on his face.

"Sorry, man, but I have no idea where your girlfriend is," replied Blitz, a sly smirk on his face.

"She's not my girlfriend, I'm just worried….." trailed off Tempest, a slight blush on his face, before starting to pace around again. Magnus smiled for a minute, before turning to Draconis. (who looked like he was about to burst out laughing.)

"So, did you put the trace on the boy like I asked you to?"

Draconis stared down for a minute, trying to push the laughter out of his mind before replying, "Yeah, I did. M'phone will start to vibrate when they all get to the stati…… oh, speak of the devil." As he said this, he pulled out his phone – which was vibrating fiercly – and flipped it open. Sure enough, there were six red dots etched onto the tiny screen, showing that all six of them had, in fact, reached the terminal.

"So they're all there, are they?" asked Tempest curiously.

"Yeah, and….. oh look, the Trailmon's coming. This just keeps getting better and better!" As he said this, a miniscule, black dot came on the screen in a straight line before stopping in front of the six dots. "Hold on, everybody quiet. I think I can hear them talkin'." All four of them got up around his phone, and stared, listening intently at the voices beginning to rise from it.

* * *

"Alright, everybody aboard. I haven't got all day," started the Trailmon, who started off into an angry rant about being pulled out at the last minute. The group just stared before snapping out of it, and boarding the Trailmon. As she was getting on, being the second last in the lineup, she turned back to Takuya.

"Why was it, exactly, that you guys were so late getting here?"

"Late? It's only been like, what, 20 minutes or something?" Takuya replied, confusion on his face.

"It's been a half hour since Junpei, Tomoki and I got here. What if something really bad had happened while you guys were being late?"

"It wasn't our fault! We – well, I, anyways – got the message five minutes ago! We just ran straight here from downtown, near the mall. You know how far the train entrance is from there!" Takuya explained fiercely.

"Right, whatever," said Izumi. By the sound of her voice, it didn't sound like she believed him. "Anyways, we better go. We're wasting time." And with that, she boarded the train. Takuya followed before having to stop again when Izumi turned around.

"You've got something on your jacket, let me get it," said Izumi, advancing towards him. Suddenly, she tripped on something and landed right in Takuya's chest. Both of them started blushing profoundly, the intensity increasing when Kouji called them in through the window, a smirk on his face. Inside, Junpei was sulking while Tomoki and Koichi both looked like they were about to laugh out loud.

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming," shouted Takuya. Izumi pulled herself off of him, and walked inside, Takuya following close behind her. The doors closed, and the Trailmon took off towards the digital world.

* * *

"See, Magnus," said Draconis, "they're already on their way. All we have to do is wait." And with that, he sat down in the chair that was previously occupied by Blitz. 

"Not so fast. We still have to bring them here and tell them about what's happening. Remember, they think that Orphanimon called them here," reminded Tempest. A look of horror suddenly appeared on his face. "Where, exactly, is the Trailmon taking them?" he asked slowly.

Magnus and Blitz thought for a second before sharing the same look of horror; Draconis ignored it, and replied, "The same place that one always does, of course, the….. Flame………. Terminal….." he trailed off, before cursing loudly.

"We have to cut the Trailmon off before it gets to the terminal, or they'll be stuck there for a while, and we'll have to deal with Marcus' army!" shouted Magnus, horrified. Tempest and Blitz exchanged looks of shock and horror. Scott flipped open his phone quickly.

"Yeah, see, they're already there," this brought out another loud curse, this time from Magnus, "It's 'cuz time flows differently there, they think it's been a half hour."

"Great, not only to we have to bring them here, we have to get them out of the terminal as well," moaned Tempest.

"So….. who's going?"

* * *

Well, there was a little Takumi there for ya. Pay attention to the other guys there. Like I mentioned earlier, they will be a huge part of the story coming up. Remember, reviews and constructive criticism about my writing, any positive/unique ideas for the story, etc. will be accepted, while flames... will not. Please, keep reviewing for those who have. If you haven't yet, please remember to R+R! 


	4. Arrival At The Terminal

Disclaimer: Please note that I do not own Digimon, or anything associated with Digimon. I only own my own characters.

* * *

Chapter 4: Arrival At The Terminal

The clouds that were overhead passed by swiftly as the giant Trailmon swept across the suspended train tracks that connected the underground terminal in the real world to the Flame Terminal in the Digital World. All you could see from the window was the clear, blue skies passing by above.

One would think that from this picture, this mental imagery, that the trip to the Digital World would be one similar to that of a vacation. However, just by looking at the serious faces on the passengers on the Trailmon, you would know that a vacation was the last thing that was on these children's minds.

But these children weren't just ordinary children. These six children were, and still are, fabled as the heroes that saved the Digital World from the brink of destruction, using the ancient spirits of heroes past. Everywhere across the world, from the oceanside beaches, to the vast, endless deserts, to the giant, monster-infested jungles, to the arctic north, and everywhere in between, people talk about the heroes that saved their world long ago.

Of course, because time in the Digital World flows different than that in the real world, it had been years since those children had saved the world. However, in the real world, it had only been a few weeks. Those six children had barely changed in appearance at all. But that change, according to them, was minimal, incomparable to the changes that they themselves had gone through whilst in the Digital World.

As the Trailmon hurried along the track, there was an uncharacteristic silence inside of the compartment that the Digidestined were currently residing in. Takuya and Izumi were on opposite ends of the compartment, only looking at each other when they were positive that the other wasn't looking. Obviously what had happened just minutes before still lingered in their minds.

But while the others had found that funny for a few minutes, it was only a distraction from their task at hand. Indeed, Kouji was staring outside of the window, deep in thought, while his brother was staring down at the ground, also in thought. Junpei had his arms crossed, a slight frown on his face. Tomoki, the youngest of their group, was sitting on the edge of his seat, blankly staring off into the space ahead of him.

This silence lasted for the majority of the trip there, the only sounds heard in the compartment coming from the occasional cough or sigh from one of the children, but it wasn't enough to merit anything. After a while, Kouji looked further ahead from the window.

"Hey, guys, I see it! The Flame Terminal is just up ahead!" exclaimed Kouji. Almost immediately, all of them looked out the window behind them. Sure enough, there it was, the Flame Terminal.

"Maybe Bokomon and Neemon are there, waiting for us!" exclaimed Tomoki, excited to see the first signs of the Digital World, fully intact.

"Hey, something's wrong. Why aren't there any Digimon around?" asked Izumi worriedly. Everyone looked, and sure enough, none of the floating Digimon were in the air around them, nor on the platform which was rapidly approaching. There was however, a bar blocking the pathway into the terminal, a toll booth ('Thankfully empty,' noted Junpei,) right beside it.

"Oh no, I was afraid of this….." moaned the Trailmon in worried exasperation.

"Worried about what?" asked Takuya, his head hanging on the window to properly speak with the Trailmon. "Did you know this was going to happen?"

"Ho, boy, I didn't think…..I just thought that Magnus was joking when he showed up and warned us about him coming in, but….. This is bad news….." ranted the Trailmon, panic now evident in its voice.

"Magnus? Who's that?" asked Kouji, now joining the conversation.

"He's in charge of the terminal. Ever since Orphanimon had this huge fight with Magnus and Tempest, they've taken control over the terminal."

"That's horrible!"

"Not really, Magnus is a really nice guy, great leader. But ever since he told us that Marcus got loose, he's been in a right state. Worried about when he's going to strike, he's planning a siege of the terminal, you know."

"WHAT!!! We have to do something about it!" exclaimed Takuya angrily, the others nodding in agreement.

"There isn't much you can do, unless you want to have to answer to half of an entire army." These words took a minute for them to fully sink in into the passengers on the train.

"A-a-an a-a-ARMY!??!?" exclaimed Junpei, panicking slightly. "How exactly are we supposed to fight an ARMY? We don't even have our spirits with us!"

"Yeah, I can't believe Orphanimon didn't realize to send us to another terminal!" exclaimed Koichi.

"Well, that's the thing. She doesn't know. Tempest tried to warn her, but she wouldn't listen. Says that Marcus' escape is a load of bull, but not everyone seems to think so. The only reason people are still listening to her is because of Seraphimon and Cherubimon. It's basically become a dictatorship here!"

The Digidestined all looked at each other with horrified looks in their eyes. This wasn't the welcome wagon that they were expecting, that's for sure.

"So, let me get this straight," started Koichi, the first to shake off the effect of what they had just learned. "Orphanimon is losing control over the Digimon, who are listening to Seraphimon and Cherubimon instead of her. This 'Marcus' guy is planning a siege of the Flame Terminal, and we're heading right into their trap."

"Wait, what about this Magnus guy? Isn't he going to stop them?" asked Junpei expectantly.

"Naw, I doubt that he can. Magnus is strong, but not strong enough to face an entire army by himself, even with his allies there. All three of them, that's ridiculous. How are four Guardians supposed to stop an entire army….."

"Wait, Guardians?" asked Izumi curiously. "What are those?"

"The Guardians are the ones who had the fight with Orphanimon. They're sayin' that something big is headin' this way, and that we need to band together and fight it. They're the ones who defeated Marcus and imprisoned him, for killing everyone in the Town Of Beginnings."

"WHAT!!!! All of those baby Digimon….." sniffed Tomoki.

"And that's not even the worst of it. He killed them so that they couldn't be reborn as Digieggs. He did that to that area, turned the Forest Terminal and the Floating Toy Island into a barren wasteland, and…." His voice turned into a mere whisper at this point, "almost killed one of the Guardians."

That obviously didn't have the effect on the children as he probably would have liked – because they didn't know who the Guardians were, and the influence that they had on the Digital World – but their facial expressions of shock and terror were satisfying – in a twisted sort of way – all the same.

"One of them…..almost died?" asked Tomoki slowly. But before the Trailmon could answer, he stopped abruptly. The others were jerked around suddenly in their seats from the sudden stop.

"Shh… I hear voices coming from outside," said Izumi, and the others gathered around, trying to listen, but it was no use, they couldn't hear anything. After a few moments, the Trailmon moved into the terminal.

"Is it… safe to go out there?" asked Junpei slowly, cautiously.

"Yeah, it's safe. The whole point of the siege is for them to wait outside, cutting off all of our incoming food and water supplies, until we surrender."

"That's awful!" exclaimed Izumi.

"Well, it's the truth. I was amazed that they let me in. Strict orders were not to let anyone leave. I just told 'em that I left before they had come, and they seemed to buy it," explained Trailmon. "Anyhow, what are ya going to do now? There's nowhere to go. I guess you can start by goin' to Bokomon's office."

"Bokomon's here, right now?!?" asked Junpei incredulously.

"Oh sure, him and Neemon were named advisors to Magnus when he was appointed here by their leader, Althor. A great man, that Althor….. if anyone'll get us out of this mess, it's him." The others just stared at the Trailmon, wondering how great this 'Althor' guy could be.

"Well, take care now!" And with that, the Trailmon returned to it's station to rest from the journey. Everyone looked around the Terminal. It was hard to believe that this town was under siege. Sure, everyone had slightly sadder faces than they normally would, but a siege…..

"Well, what say we go find Bokomon and Neemon?" asked Takuya, looking around the group. When unanimous nods met him, he turned around, and they all started walking towards….. wherever his office was. Trailmon had never mentioned where it was.

They walked down the street, looking at all of the various Digimon there. They all looked saddened by something, but whether it was the siege, or the fact that this Magnus guy hadn't come to get them out of this bind yet was undeterminable.

After a few minutes of walking, Tomoki noticed a sign that said:

To the estate of 

Bokomon, Senior Advisor to Lord Magnus,

And

Neemon, Junior Advisor to Lord Magnus

Past the sign, there was something that looked like either a really large house or a really small mansion. Tan brick covered the surface, the paved path that led to the front door circled around a giant fountain. Lush, green grass grew all over the front lawn.

"Wow! They've done pretty well for themselves, huh?" exclaimed Takuya.

"This place is huge! Can you imagine how big Magnus' place must be?" asked Kouji. They walked on down the path towards the house/mansion.

When they reached the door, the group looked at each other, each one expecting the other to knock on the door.

"Make Tomoki do it, he found the place!"

"No way, it should be Takuya! He's the leader!"

"So? Izumi's older by three months, she should do it!"

"No way, I'm a lady! I can't knock on the door when there's five guys right here to do it for me! Koichi should do it!"

"Uh uh, leave me outta this! If anyone should do it, it should be….." But before he finished his sentence, they heard the doorbell ring. All five of them looked up to see Kouji standing by the door, an impatient look on his face. He glared at the rest of them slightly, and got sheepish grins in return. Before he could say anything, however, they heard voices from the other side of the door.

"…..I'm telling you now, Bokomon, and this is your last chance. Where is Magnus?"

"I've already told you, you fiend, I have absolutely no idea. Why don't you go bother someone else, because I'm not interested!"

"You'd better keep a civil tongue there, Digi, or we'll burn this place down right now."

"It doesn't matter," exclaimed Bokomon exasperately, "because Magnus will come and send you two buffoons packing!"

"Is that so?" asked the first one rhetorically, "Well, in that case….. Make sure that Magnus is here by noon tomorrow, or this entire place will burn to the ground!" The door opened at the second voice's final words. They turned around to see the Digidestined standing on the front porch.

"What are you starin' at?" asked the owner of the voice that demanded Magnus should be here tomorrow. He was pretty tall, about 6'2. His skin was tanned, but covered in horrible battle scars. His left eye had a great scar across it, sealing it shut. His head was shaven, but there was still some brown fuzz there. His clothes (A tan muscle shirt with brown cargo pants) were covered in a mixture of blood and dirt.

"Now, now, Fredrik. There's no need to be rude, especially with such a beautiful lady present," warned the first one. This one was much less dirty than the other one. He, as well, was about 6'2, with whiter skin than his partner. His spiky, dirty-blonde hair rustled gently in the breeze, and his sea-blue eyes shone. There were no hideous battle scars on his skin, and his clothes (which the Digidestined assumed to be a battle uniform, crimson red in colour) blew in the breeze as well. "Just remember what we said, Bokomon, and there should be no problems between us. Excuse us, milady," he said, winking at Izumi before he and Fredrik passed by towards the street.

"What a gentleman!" exclaimed Izumi, once they were well out of earshot.

"He wasn't that great….." muttered Takuya, a cross look on his face. However, this went unnoticed by Izumi.

"He's right. That was Generals Dalton Legace and Fredrik Mullahan. They're the ones holding our terminal under siege," explained Bokomon, "It's great to see you, come on inside, now."

As Bokomon ushered them inside, Takuya stared back at the retreating figures angrily for a moment, before bringing himself inside, allowing Bokomon to close the door behind him.

* * *

So, what do ya think? Please review, it helps me keep going. Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated, while flames...are not. So, please, R+R! 


	5. The Escape

Disclaimer: Please note that I do not own Digimon, or anything associated with Digimon. I only own my characters.

A/N: I just want to know why exaclty this story has had over 400 hits (w00t!!!) so far, but only 6 reviews? (not w00t.) If you read this, please be considerate enough to leave a review.

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Chapter 5: The Escape

"How exactly are we supposed to get in there? There must be at least half of whatever soldiers that Marcus sent over guarding the damn place!" muttered Draconis, an angry look in his eyes. "And why, exactly, are we hiding in the bushes. Sure enough, there they – being himself and his partner, Tempest, who was keeping a lookout outside – were, hiding inside a bush outside of the entrance into the terminal.

"Stop complaining. It was either this, or sneak in with their uniforms, and I really hope for your sake that you remember the last time we tried to take the uniforms from them," chastised Tempest bitterly.

"How in blazing hell was I supposed to know that that was the girl's changeroom!?! Man, those chicks can slap hard when they're pissed, my face hurts just from remembering about it." As he said this, Draconis rubbed his face gingerly with his hand, as if it still stung with pain.

"I can't believed that you moaned about it for three days. You can take a dragon bite across the torso, nearly snapping you in half, but you can't even take a slap from an angry woman? I'm beginning to question your pain threshold, Draconis," said Tempest, turning to look over at his partner, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Dragon bites aren't as painful as they look, you know."

"You also had about 40 pounds of solid dragon scale armor on at the time, of course it won't – wait, I see something," said Tempest as he turned around to continue keeping watch. "I think it's…..Dalton and Fredrik. What the hell are they doing inside the terminal?"

"Looking for Magnus, I guess. Don't they realize that he's not there? Hell, he's not even in the same _region_ as this place," assumed Scott, a questioning look on his face. It was as he said; Magnus was planning the group's next move back in the floating fortress.

"Yeah, but knowing how stupid Fredrik can be……Dalton's not much better, mind you, but as least he had some common sense every now and th-" He stopped abruptly, staring hard out into the open. "What the hell…..they disappeared!"

"That can't be possible," stated Draconis, disbelief in his tone of voice. "They were right there, you were watching them, they can't have just……" They heard a small cough above. Horrified, the two looked up to find Dalton and Fredrik standing right above them. They were staring down at the two, Fredrik with a look of anger on his face, while Dalton looked slightly amused.

"You can't be serious. Did you honestly think that the master didn't expect you maggots to show up when he took over the terminal?" asked Fredrik rhetorically, anger quaking with every syllable. "He knew that you'd try something, so he told us to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. And lookie here, something suspicious!"

"Master…..what are you, his sex slaves or something?" asked Tempest, a smirk on his face. He was rewarded with Dalton's sword pointed directly in his face.

"I don't believe that you are in any position to be making any jokes about the master," warned Dalton. "Now, we already asked that idiotic Bokomon inside to tell us where he is, but he won't say, and the other one wasn't there. So, you must know where he is right now, don't you?" Fredrik sneered menacingly, gliding his finger across the blade of his axe. Draconis looked up in disgust.

"We would rather die than tell you thugs anything!" shouted Draconis. Tempest nodded his head in agreement, being careful to dodge the sword that was still pointed in his face.

"That can be arranged…." muttered Fredrik, lifting his finger from the axe, preparing to unsheathe it.

"Now, now Fredrik. No need to be hasty," advised Dalton. "I'm sure these fine young gentleman can tell us what we _want to know_." He emphasised his last three words, and sheathed his sword, now grabbing Draconis by the scruff of his armor.

"Get your filthy hands off of me," commanded Draconis. He shoved his foot into Dalton's gut, and kicked off. He landed outside of the bush, his lance at his side, ready in combat position. There was a loud crack, and Fredrik looked down in surprise. Tempest had vanished.

"Looking for me?" Fredrik turned around, only to be kicked into the bushes by Tempest. Dalton and Fredrik both stood up, angry looks in their eyes.

"So, that's how it has to be? What a shame, now you must die," said Dalton, sighing. He unsheathed his sword, and stood beside his partner in combat position. Fredrik lifted his axe and got ready as well, turning to face Tempest, who was behind them.

"That's what you think!" cried Draconis, as he and Tempest began to charge at the two generals.

* * *

"I am so glad that you are alright!" cried Bokomon, as he walked back to the group. Everyone nodded in agreement, still in awe at the inside of the house/mansion. The front hall was huge, the floor covered in white marble, gold covering the pillars inside. Across the hall there was a giant staircase, leading up into the floors above. Off to the side, there must have been about 100 different doors, leading to various rooms.

"Well, so are we, to be honest," replied Junpei, sighing with relief at the thought.

"But those guys from before….. are they really the ones who have put the terminal under siege?" asked Izumi, worry and disbelief etched across her face. "Well, sure, that ugly guy might be, but the handsome one? I can't buy it." Takuya glared at her for a moment, which went unnoticed once more.

"Believe it," answered Bokomon. "We haven't been able to leave the terminal for about a week. Food supplies are becoming alarmingly low, the entire place is full of sorrow and hopelessness because Magnus hasn't come to save us yet." At this point, Bokomon sighed. "Even Neemon hasn't come back yet…."

"What happened to Neemon?" asked Takuya, who was genuinely curious. "I thought that he was here with you?" Bokomon looked around the room. When he saw that they others' faces were full of curiousity and worry, he sighed again.

"He hasn't been hurt, has he?" asked Tomoki with alarm.

"No, no, nothing like that. Lord Magnus asked Neemon to go out on a mission for him. Something about trying to find a lost artifact. I don't know anything more, except that he left about a fortnight ago, the week before those buffoons came in, (at this, Izumi humphed) and has yet to come back. And to make things worse, those buffoons (Izumi humphed again) are starting to wonder why he hasn't been here."

"So, Magnus needs to be here by tommorow, and Neemon is still missing. Haven't you asked someone from outside the terminal to look, like Seraphimon or Orphanimon?" asked Kouji. At the mention of Orphanimon, Bokomon's face became livid with anger.

"Orphanimon? Please, she doesn't even know that we're under siege! She thought that it was a big phony lie when Magnus told her. It was ridiculous!" The chosen children stared at each other.

"Wait, if Orphanimon doesn't even know that this place has been captured, and that these guys have taken over, then why did she call us here?" asked Koichi slowly, trying to comprehend what had happened.

"I don't think she did call you here," answered Bokomon. "I think that someone else called you here."

"So it was a trap!?!" exclaimed Izumi. "That's just great!"

"I think that there's more to it than that, Izumi," said Kouji. "I mean, someone else called because the Digital World was in danger. Orphanimon didn't call here, which means that whoever did call us here knew that the Digital World was in danger."

"Say…. Do you think that Mag-" Takuya started, but was cut off because the floor started to shake violently. Things began to fall off of the shelves in the hall, books were scattered across the floor.

"EARTHQUAKE!" Junpei cried. "Everyone take cover!"

"No need," exclaimed Bokomon, "Because it's over." And so it was. Just as suddenly as it began, it ended. Bookcases were covering the floor, the glass littering the entire room. There were cracks in the marble tiling. Tomoki looked outside.

"Guys, there's a fire! Over there!" exclaimed Tomoki suddenly. Everyone rushed over to look; there was a fire, over by the entrance to the terminal.

"That's where those buffoons (Izumi humphed once more) were headed! Do you think….?" And with that, Bokomon rushed outside, the others following swiftly behind him.

* * *

"Did you have to use that spell?" asked Draconis, strain in his voice. There were multiple gashes across his armor, and was now leaning on his lance for support. He turned to look at his companion. Tempest was leaning on his staff for support as well, but the spell had done its' job; Fredrik lay on the ground, unconscious, while Dalton knelt on the ground from injury and fatigue. The magic left multiple burn marks across all four skins. Fire covered the ground around them.

"Well, it worked, didn't it?" replied Tempest.

"Yeah, but did it have to hit us as well?"

"I can't help it if we happened to be in the range at the time. Even if we moved, they'd come after us. They use physical attacks, Draconis, not magic. It's a little bit harder to cast spells soundly when there's 3 feet of metal inches from your face." Draconis laughed weakly at this.

"You think that you've won, but you're mistaken," muttered Dalton. "In a few minutes, Juniper and Marian, along with the rest of the regiments will be here to _take you down_." And with that, he slowly got up, grabbed Fredrik's unconscious body, and teleported them away with a crack similar to the one Tempest used.

"Hey, you think you can clear the fire from the entrance?" asked Draconis slowly.

"I can try," replied Tempest. He turned to face the fire, and a magic sigil appeared under his feet, slightly blue in colour this time. Draconis sighed, and sat down holding his lance up with his shoulder. He sighed, fatigue was washing over him slowly, but surely.

"Water….." muttered Tempest, pointing his staff at the flames. A jet of water instantly poured from the staff, dousing the flames, creating a path to the entrance.

"Great, now we have to get Bokomon and the kids out of there, and get out of here before the army shows up," sighed Draconis.

"Well, step 1 is taken care of. Here they come now." Draconis looked up, and saw that Bokomon and the Digidestined were running towards them.

"Well, that's one problem taken care of. Now, how to get them back. Can you teleport us all, do you think?" Tempest thought for a moment, before facing Draconis.

"I should be able to. I just won't be able to do anything for a couple of days, that's all." Draconis sighed with relief, as the group got closer, their footsteps getting louder, the clinking…..wait, clinking?

Draconis turned around in alarm. Sure enough, the army was headed right towards them.

"Crap….." Draconis muttered. He looked up to see Bokomon and the others finally there.

"What's going on? Where's Magnus?" asked Bokomon quickly.

"No time to explain, the army's coming," said Tempest quickly. This aroused shouts of panic from the children. "Everybody shut up, and grab hands." Everyone quickly grabbed hands and watched as Tempest began to glow a faint white colour. There was a third crack, and they were gone…..

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Hey, everybody! Still accepting constructive critisicm and reviews. Those will be accepted while flames... will not. Please tell me what you thought about this chapter. R&R! 


	6. Are You Sure That's The Right Way?

Sorry about taking so long to update! I've been really busy, going away every couple of days to relative's houses, I haven't had time to upload anything new! I hope that this chapter will make up for lost time.

Disclaimer: Please note that I do not own Digimon, or anything associated with Digimon. I only own my characters.

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Chapter 6: Are You Sure That's The Right Way?

There was nothing in the air except for still silence. The leaves of the surrounding forest rustled gently in the breeze. The dew-covered grass sparkled in the shimmering sunset on the horizon. Trees of every kind and size littered most of the ground in which are heroes were lying upon. All of them were either unconscious or just beginning to stir back into consciousness.

Takuya was the first to rise from the ground, bruises strewn across his skin, his trademark goggles threatening to fall onto his face from the safety position on his cap. His jacket was ripped slightly in the sleeves. Overall, the sight wasn't all that pretty.

"Oh... my aching head. Where the heck are we?" asked Takuya rhetorically, even though everyone in the current party a) knew as much as their current location as Takuya did, or b) were still unconscious. He looked around at his allies. The twins were lying face down upon the ground, though beginning to move from their spot on the ground. Tomoki was lying on the ground eagle-spread, although he looked to be more asleep than unconscious, due to the fact that light snores were coming from the young boy's mouth. He turned to see that Junpei was lying face-first on the ground like the twins, though there was a slight separation between Junpei's torso and the ground. Takuya bent down to look; Bokomon was trapped underneath Junpei's total weight, and didn't even realize it. Takuya chuckled to himself for a moment before turning to Izumi.

She was lying on the ground on her back, arms stretched across the ground that she layed upon. 'She looked like some sort of angel,' noted Takuya, smiling to himself for a minute. 'A beautiful angel, too,' Takuya's thoughts stopped at that point before they went to a point which wouldn't hep the situation that the group was currently in. Takuya forced himself to turn away from Izumi to stare over at the final two, the two that had teleported them to this strange place, the two that had caused the explosion that set the terminal on fire just moments before.

"So, where are we, exactly?" asked a voice from behind him. Takuya turned to see Kouji beginning to stand, staring around at their surroundings. After a impatient grunt from his brother on the ground, Kouji bent down to help him up.

"Hey there, sleepyheads," joked Takuya. "And in answer to your question, I have no idea where we are, although this place does look familiar. He looked around. Now that he said, this forest really did look familiar, although he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

"I don't know where we are right now," started Koichi, "but I think I know where we supposed to end up." This only rewarded Koichi with confused faces from the two teens in front of him.

"Just look above us," he said exasperatedly. Both of them looked up, and gasped at what they saw. Above them, about a couple thousand feet, was what looked like a giant fortress, up in the sky. Upon closer inspection, it looked to be surrounded by what appeared to be...

"Oh boy, are those... DRAGONS!?!?" exclaimed Takuya surprisedly, staring at the creatures with wide eyes. He turned to look at the twins for confirmation of this statement, but all he got were wide-eyed stares as well.

"Yep, those are dragons, boy," said a voice from behind the trio. They turned to see one of the two strangers who teleported them to this forest. He stood up shakily, using his lance to steady himself. "Beautiful creatures, ain't they?" He stared up at the dragons above longingly.

Takuya just stared at him. How could anyone be so fond towards dragons. He had to admit, dragons were pretty cool, but this was ridiculous. He turned to see what Kouji thought, whom just stared at him with an eyebrow cocked. Koichi just stared, his mouth open slightly.

The stranger just continued to stare up at them, before turning his head to stare at the trio before him.

"What are you staring at?" he asked, confusion and curiosity ringing out in his voice. Koichi began to stammer out a response, but was cut short by the movements of people behind him. Tomoki was beginning to stand up, while the muffled shouts of Bokomon from underneath Junpei began to become louder. Izumi and the other stranger were still lying on the ground.

"Can't believe our luck... He must be wiped out," said the stranger, turning to stare at his companion, concern evident in his voice. "Oh well, it can't be helped. At least he managed to get us out of there." He turned to face Takuya again. "So, the Chosen Children have returned to the Digital World once more," he said with a smirk.

"How exactly do you know who we are?" asked Tomoki, as he steadied himself out. "We don't even know who you two are." The shouts from Bokomon began to become louder, so he went to attempt to move Junpei off of the poor Digimon.

"Yeah, Tomoki's right. Who are you guys exactly?" asked Kouji suspiciously.

"I'd tell you, but..." the stranger lowered his voice, "It's not safe to talk here. Anyone could be listening right now. We'll tell you everything when we get to where we were supposed to end up." He walked over to his partner to try and wake him up. "You might want to get your friends up as well, we're going to move out soon." Kouji and Koichi nodded, and went to go wake up Junpei and Izumi.

Takuya stared at him for a minute. His armor was dark green in colour, and was made from what he assumed to be dragon scales. His lance was placed back in it's position on his back, gleaming in the setting sun's light. His helmet covered most of his face, but his mouth and nose were still visible.

"How can we even trust you guys? For all we know, you could be with the enemy!" exclaimed Takuya.

"Trust me, if we were the enemy, then why would we have tried so hard to get you guys out of there safely? Besides, we would've just left you there to fend for yourselves," he replied, instantly shutting Takuya up, a slight blush appearing on his face.

"And we should have left them there, too, for all the trouble that they were worth..." muttered a voice from the ground. Takuya looked down to see the other stranger beginning to sit up from his spot on the ground. His robes of navy blue were dampened from the dew that covered the grass underneath him. He picked up his staff from the ground beside him, and used it to steady himself, as his partner did, as he stood up. "If it weren't for Magnus' orders..."

"Wait, did you just say Magnus?" Takuya turned around to see Izumi standing. Beside her, Junpei was being helped up by the combined efforts of Tomoki, Kouji, and Koichi, who weren't having much luck, Bokomon's shouts becoming even louder. She ignored them, and turned back to the robed warrior. "Isn't he the leader of the Flame Terminal?"

"Yes, he is, but we can't talk here. Let's get back to HQ, then we'll talk," replied the stranger, going to converse in privacy with his ally. Takuya turned back to the group, who had finally gotten Junpei up, freeing one very peeved Bokomon. Junpei looked very disgruntled about being yelled at by the Digimon, while the others just laughed. Takuya chuckled to himself then looked up towards the fortress. If Koichi was right when he said that the fortress was where they were to end up, then they might have been trapped there. Then again, those two did save them from those creeps back at the terminal.

The two strangers turned back towards the group. The others stopped laughing to hear what they had to say to them.

"Listen up, we were supposed to be up in that fortress above us, but due to recent events..." he trailed off to look at his partner for a second, before continuing. "At any rate, there's a teleporter that leads up to there a little ways from where we are right now. That's where we're headed." Everyone nodded in response to show that they understood, but looks of confusion still lingered on their faces.

"Well, can you at least tell us where we are first? Or how about who you two are?" asked Junpei impatiently, receiving mutterings of approval from the others. The robed stranger sighed, before speaking.

"First of all, you can call me Andrew, and him Scott for now. As to where we are, this is the Database Forest, not too far from Seraphimon's Castle. Coincidentally, the teleporter in inside the castle," he replied.

"Also, since Serpahimon is allied with Orphanimon, there is the possibility that our welcoming committee won't be so friendly," continued Scott. "Since you guys are there, then it should be alright, but just incase it's not..." he thrust his lance into the ground to emphasise his point.

"Everything should be alright, like Scott said. Him and myself will fight through. All we have to do is make sure that you guys all get back to HQ safely," finished Andrew.

"Wait, what happens if you guys get hurt and don't make it back?" asked Izumi concernedly.

"There will be people up there who will take care of you, including our leader. We can get ourselves out more easily if you are all up there (as he said this, Andrew pointed upwards towards the fortress) than if you're down here with us. We wouldn't have to worry about protecting you guys," replied Andrew. Scott nodded from beside him to confirm this.

"Alright then, let's go!" exclaimed Takuya excitedly, running off towards the woods before him, the others following excitedly behind him. As they disappeared into the woods, Scoot turned to face his partner, "When do think that they'll realize that they're going the wrong way?"

A few seconds later...

"Hey you two! Which way are we supposed to go?"

Andrew sighed, while Scott chuckled behind him, shaking his head in disbelief. "We're supposed to be going this way (he pointed in the opposite direction that the children had gone). That way leads to an unstable cliff that drops off into the rock-filled ocean below," answered Andrew. Takuya chuckled nervously as everyone else glared slightly at him.

"Now, let's go!" exclaimed Takuya, heading off in the direction that Andrew pointed in. Everyone stared off after him...

"Are you sure that's the right way?" asked Izumi questionably.

"I'm positive!... Mostly. I'm mostly positive!" exclaimed Scott, before nervously chuckling and following after Takuya. The others stared at each other before running off after them. Andrew sighed again, slapping his palm to his forehead before joining them...

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Okay guys and girls! I hope you liked that chapter. Also, I want at least 3 more reviews before I update again. Just remember, constructive criticism is accepted while flames... are not. And there is a fine line between the two, you know. Alright, remember to R&R! 


	7. Over the River and Through the Woods

First off, let me say that I am SO sorry for not updating for such a long period of time. Been absolutely swamped with school and family, didn't have very much time to work on this chapter at all. Hopefully, this will make up for missed time!

Disclaimer: I do not, or ever will, own Digimon, or any characters associated with the show. I only own my characters.

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Chapter 7: Over the River and Through the Woods...

"Well, aside from that little misdirection created by one goggle-headed boy who will remain unnamed for the sake of anonymity," Scott began, ignoring the 'cough-Takuya-cough' coming from Junpei and Andrew, "I think that this trip is shaping up quite nicely, don't you agree?" Koichi stopped to stare at him in disbelief.

"Was this before or after _you_ pointed us in the wrong direction?" he asked curiously. Scott blushed slightly underneath his helmet, muttering something that suspiciously sounded like "After, smart guy," as he walked towards the front of the group with Bokomon and Tomoki. Koichi stared at him for a second, then shrugged his shoulders and kept walking, running slightly to catch up with his brother.

Izumi looked up at the sky. The sun was nearly behind the sea of trees through which the group travelled, and the moon was starting to become visible overtop the trees on the opposite horizon. She opened her mouth to say something, but she heard a voice from behind her telling her otherwise. She closed her mouth and turned around.

"We know that it's almost dark right now. There's a clearing just up ahead. That's where we rest," he said to her. Izumi stared at him.

"How did you know that..."

"I probably should wait to tell you this when we're at headquarters, but oh well. Scott and I are of an ancient elven clan," he pointed to his ears, which were pointed slightly, to emphasise this fact. "We have enhanced senses over other species, so being able to hear you draw breath as if you were about to speak is nothing to us, especially since we're trained warriors," he turned to look at her, smirking slightly.

"Wait, I thought elves used all of that magic... mumbo-jumbo," replied Takuya, coming up from behind the two.

"That's true, we do use magic as an art form and as a type of weaponry. However, there are some exceptions. Take Scott for example. Can't cast some of the basic magic spells, but has a natural affinity with dragons, and can impale an enemy from fifty paces," he answered calmly, before he continued to walk ahead.

- Meanwhile -

"Hey, do you even know where the heck we are!?!" asked a voice, yelling overtop of the fierce mountain winds to his partner. "We don't even know where the Young Master is!"

"Just keep moving!" the second voice yelled back to his partner, "If we get caught out here, we're as good as dead! Besides, I'm sure that Blitz and the others are fine, there's no point in worrying about it!" The first stranger nodded before slowly trudging across the snowy wasteland, his companion waiting for him to catch up before continuing.

"So, do you know where whatever the thing we're supposed to be looking for is?" asked the first voice. The second shook his head.

"No idea. All Magnus told me was that whatever we're looking for is somewhere out here. Why it'd be out in this desolate place is beyond me. All we can do, is trust that he's right, and keep moving," the second voice replied before walking a little faster.

The first stranger shook his head. "I sure hope that him and Aquatis were right about this..." he muttered under his breath before running to catch up with his partner.

- Back to the main story... -

Due to the constant shifting of the group, they had stopped under Andrew's and Scott's orders, and had formed an actual... formation. As it went, Andrew led the front of the group, with the twins behind him. Junpei, Tomoki, and Bokomon were in the middle, with Izumi trailing slightly behind them. Scott and Takuya took up the rear of the party.

Takuya stared up ahead at Izumi. How she could be so calm about all of this was beyond him. Sure, everyone looked calm on the surface, but there was some sense of either fear or anxiety in everyone's eyes. (With the exception of Andrew and Scott, of course.) Even he was a little scared about their current predicament. They were stuck in the Digital World, running from an unknown organization, trying to get to a floating fortress surrounded by _dragons_ of all things, with two guys from _another_ secret organization, all the while not being told anything about their situation. It was a little scary, not to mention frustrating, or at least he thought so. It was truly amazing.

'Add that to this list of reasons why Izumi's so great,' thought Takuya, smiling slightly.

"Hey, don't get too down and dirty up in there, alright?" Takuya jumped slightly, and blushed profusely. Scott was smirking greatly at him, chuckling slightly. "We need you focussed on anything that comes our way, so stay sharp."

"But.. I-I... Wait a... Hey, h-hold...," stammered Takuya, Scott chuckling to himself all the while.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Besides, she's quite a catch, that one is," he said thoughtfully, before walking to catch up with the group. Takuya looked up ahead; he had been so distracted by his thoughts that him and Scott had fallen behind a little bit. He jogged a little to catch up as well.

"Hey, Andrew," asked Koichi suddenly. He stopped, as did the rest of the group.

"What is it?" he asked, annoyance in his tone of voice ever so slightly.

"What's that symbol on the back of your robes there?" he asked curiously. The group, excluding Scott, stared at the back of Andrew's robes; sure enough, there was a glowing symbol, slightly lighter in colour compared to the rest of his robes.

"If anyone should know, it's you guys, especially you," he said, nodding towards Izumi slightly. She looked for a second, then it clicked.

"That's the symbol of the Wind!" she exclaimed in realization. The others looked at the symbol again, then it clicked for them as well. Scott walked up to the front of the group, standing beside Andrew.

"Well, yeah, our armour was made with the symbols engraved on them. Look, the Light symbol is on my helmet," he said, turning around to show everyone the back of his helmet. There was the symbol, glowing pearl-white in colour, shining faintly in the forest night. "They were placed there as an amplifier to our powers and strengths, if you will," he continued.

"Of course, since they glow, and we can't stop them from doing that, try as we might, then our only alternative is to keep moving," finished Andrew, before walking ahead, trying to find the clearing.

The group stared at Andrew, before looking at Scott. "Don't worry," he said with a wave of his hand, "He's not normally like this. This is just around strangers. Or it could be from lack of sleep, I'm not sure which..." trailed off Scott, stroking his chin in thought. The group continued to look at him, expecting him to say something more.

"Oh! It's probably both. Nothing to worry about. Or, it could be stress. I know he wanted to do this operation as stealthily as possible, and glowing sigils isn't exactly the right way to do it. But, since the _second_ alternative, which, and I'm siding with him on this one, wasn't an option, advancing at a quicker pace isn't so bad. And since we should have been up in the fortress by now, I'm sure he's P.O.'ed at this point," said Scott, smiling before joining Andrew in the search.

The rest of the Chosen Children just stared off at Scott. No one said anything to each other until...

"What, exactly, _was_ the other alternative?" asked Tomoki, his youthful innocence just so happening to be evident in this question. The guys just cringed slightly at the thought, but Izumi just started to go help the two find the clearing.

"Izumi, don't you get it either?" asked Tomoki innocently again. She stared back at him, a slight blush on her face.

"Oh, I understand perfectly," she replied, blushing even more at saying this, before going off completely. The other four stared at her retreating figure, bewildered at her answer, then cringed again, with looks of disgust (on the twin's faces), sadness (as with Junpei) and slight indignation (with Takuya) becoming more and more evident with each passing moment. They all just walked off as well.

"Was it something I said?"

- Meanwhile -

The heavy rain pounded the stained-glass windows of the room, the smell of must and dirt amongst the air. Ancient maps of the Digital World, some showing what seemed to be territorial boundaries of some kind, were strewn across the floor. The large, wooden table in the centre of the room had a giant strategy type map pinned down on it, with small, red X's across certain areas. The map was mainly hidden by a giant, black sword, gleaming maleficently in the moonlight, crimson blood soaking the very tip of the blade. The man inside paced slowly around the room, having done so for hours, waiting for the news. After what felt like an eternity to him, the door opened to reveal a young lady.

"Pardon the intrusion, milord, but Generals Legace and Mullahan have returned from the Flame Terminal. They told me to tell you that their soldiers have yet to find that Neemon Digi. However, they have captured the other girl. They wish to see you, to give you a full report down in the prisoner cells."

"Thank you, dismissed," he said with a wave, the maid going off to her daily duties around the manor. The man stretched, before heading off towards the cells. When he got there, Fredrik and Dalton were there, both of whom had what appeared to be burns marks across their faces. The man put a hand to his face.

"_Please_ don't tell me that the stupid Digi that was at the Terminal did that to you," he said with a sigh. Dalton shook his head.

"It was those friggin' Guardians, that's who! Why I oughta..." Fredrik went off, cursing a blue streak. Dalton struck him upside the head.

"Watch your language, there. We have a lady present, after all," he said, waving his arm towards the prisoner in the cell, chained up by the wrists to the brick wall. The man looked at her.

"What do you think _you're_ starin' at, you bastard!?!" she asked indignantly, spitting on the ground to emphasise her distaste for the man before her. The man shook his head.

"Now, now, play nice. We only want to talk with you..." he said, smirking evilly as he opened the cell door and entering, the two generals following right behind him...

* * *

Again, I hope this makes up for lost time. Don't hesitate to drop a review for me. Once again, constructive criticism is accepted while flames... are not. Please, support writers everywhere, R&R! 


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